Percy Blog 1 - From DJ Decks to Data: My Journey Into Evidence-Based Wellness

A Personal Health Journey Blog by Mike Norton

Welcome to My Health Journey: A Data-Driven Approach to Wellness

In this blog series, I’m diving deep into my own health—using data, supplements, and nutrition to not only understand what’s happening inside my body but to make targeted changes and track the impact. Through regular home testing, I’ll be modifying my diet and supplements based on real data, then testing again to see how these changes affect my overall health. This isn’t about guessing or following trends; it’s about science-backed decisions and personal insights.

Now, let me be clear—I’m not a scientist. I’m just someone determined to take control of their health by understanding it better. I’ll be sharing one or two blogs a week as I walk you through this real-time journey, getting personal about the ups and downs, challenges, and discoveries along the way.

I’m opening myself up here, so please join me with an open mind—and let’s keep this space positive and respectful. The universe is tough enough without the trolls.

A Wild Ride: From the Army to DJing, IT Geekery, and the Quest for Wellness

They say life is a journey, and mine has certainly been a wild, unpredictable ride. As I sit here now, sipping my coffee in the beautiful Sunshine Coast Hinterland, I often marvel at how differently things turned out compared to what I once imagined. If you had told me 30 years ago that I’d be typing this blog instead of wearing a uniform or spinning records in a club, I’d have laughed in disbelief. But hey, life has a sense of humour, doesn’t it?

The Early Days: From the Barracks to the Dancefloor

Let’s rewind to where it all began—my days in the British Armed Forces. Yes, I once donned the uniform, serving my country with pride. The Army gave me more than just discipline; it gave me a foundation of mental toughness and resilience that has carried me through all of life’s inevitable twists and turns. But, as much as the military shaped me, I wasn’t destined to remain a soldier forever.

Something inside me craved more. Creativity, expression, freedom. And that’s where DJing came into the picture. From army boots to beats, I swapped military marches for a set of 1200's and threw myself headfirst into the DJ scene. For the next 20 years, I lived a life that couldn’t have been more different from the structured existence I’d known in the Army.

The DJ life was a whole other world—cities, countries, crowds of people dancing to my sets. It was exhilarating, liberating, and, frankly, pretty wild. Life veered from one extreme to the next, and I went from the strict, regimented world of the military to a world of creativity, rhythm, and late-night chaos. It was glorious while it lasted.

But, as any DJ will tell you, success doesn’t just land in your lap. When no one would give me a slot, I created my own opportunities. I started organising events, building a record shop, and even launching my own DJ agency. It wasn’t easy—my first event was a total disaster—but I learned fast. I built something out of nothing, running events, managing regular spots on local radio, and DJing five nights a week. I was all in, throwing myself into the music scene with every bit of energy I had.

Australia Calls: A New Chapter Begins

But as incredible as the DJ life was, everything eventually runs its course. After a decade of late nights, endless parties, and travelling, I felt it was time to settle down and find something more stable. And so, in 2000, Australia called, and I answered. By 2006, I was in Queensland, where a new chapter of my life began.

But here’s the twist: I didn’t just pack up my decks and call it a day. Instead, I pivoted sharply—from DJ to IT geek. Now, this might sound like a random leap, but it wasn’t. You see, I’ve always had a bit of a geeky side. It started back in 1981 when my mum bought me a ZX81 computer. By 1982, I’d upgraded to a ZX Spectrum, and I was writing my first game—a text-based adventure that ran out of memory before I could finish it. Technology had always been a fascination of mine, so it made sense that, when it came time for a new chapter, IT would be at the centre of it.

I began by fixing and supporting company networks (@Ken Lee!), but my career grew from there. Soon, I was leading admin teams and managing IT projects, handling everything from company infrastructure to major tech rollouts. I transitioned from troubleshooting networks to overseeing complex systems. And today? I’m deep into CCTV systems, deep neural networks, and exploring the potential of analytic metadata and MQTT protocols. It’s geeky, yes, but it’s fascinating, and I love the challenge.

It might seem like a big leap from spinning records to running IT projects, but in both worlds, I found the same rush: problem-solving, creating something from nothing, and throwing myself fully into what I do.

Family, the Brady Bunch, and a Brush with Darkness

Fast forward to today. I’m 55, happily married with two kids of my own (six altogether—hello, Brady Bunch). On paper, life looked pretty perfect. I had a loving family, a great job, and we lived in a stunning spot in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. But life, as it often does, threw me an unexpected curveball.

In November 2022, I was blindsided by something I never saw coming: severe depression. For most of my life, I’ve been the extrovert, the carefree guy who lets nothing get him down. But suddenly, out of nowhere, I was drowning in a darkness I couldn’t understand. Panic attacks, dark thoughts, and overwhelming anxiety swept over me like a tidal wave. I felt like I’d lost myself, and that terrified me.

Depression is something you can never fully explain unless you’ve been through it. It felt like someone had turned off the lights in my mind, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t switch them back on. I was lost. Asking for help was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done—admitting that I wasn’t okay. But finding a great therapist (shout out to Clayton Kuzma!) was a turning point. He helped me break things down, and slowly, I began to pull myself out of the darkness. It wasn’t easy, but it was a fight worth fighting.

At the time, I was juggling too much: a coffee van business, a full-time job, a house renovation, and, of course, the daily chaos of family life. The first step to recovery was selling the coffee van and reclaiming my weekends. Slowly but surely, I started to feel like myself again.

A New Passion: Longevity and Personalised Medicine

Coming out the other side of that dark time, I began to notice something else: I wasn’t just struggling mentally—my body was sending me signals too. Something wasn’t right, and I couldn’t ignore it anymore. This led me to dive into the world of health and wellness, and what started as curiosity quickly became a passion.

I’ve always been fascinated by how the body works, but in recent years, that fascination has evolved into a full-blown obsession with longevity and personalised medicine. I started listening to podcasts, reading books, and devouring any research I could get my hands on about the future of health. One book that truly opened my eyes was The Age of Scientific Wellness by Nathan Price and Leroy Hood. Their framework of P4 medicine—Predictive, Preventive, Personalised, and Participatory—made perfect sense to me. The idea that we can personalise medicine to the individual, using data and technology to prevent health issues before they even arise? It was a revelation.

Long before I read that book, I had hunches about things like senescent cells—those so-called “zombie cells” that accumulate as we age and contribute to illness and decline. About eight years ago, I suspected that these cells were doing more damage than people realised. Little did I know, science was already catching up to that idea. It’s incredible to see concepts that once seemed like wild theories become concrete, scientifically-backed research.

Since then, I’ve been on a mission to understand my body in ways that go beyond the surface. I’m convinced that personalised medicine is the future, and I’m determined to figure out what’s going on inside me.

But this is just the beginning. As I dive deeper into understanding my body, mind, and the challenges ahead, I’m ready to take control of my health in a way I never have before. Stay tuned—Blog 2 is where the real work begins, and I start unpacking the toll the past few years have taken and the steps I'm taking to turn things around.